31 Days of Dick Grayson
by mandiekro
Summary: This is for Eastonia's Dick Grayson Birth Month challenge. Day 10: Matchsticks
1. Insomniac

AN: Sorry it's a day late, I didn't know about it until the 2nd! And everyone go and sign the petition on to KEEP DICKIE FROM DYING

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Day 1: Insomniac

He couldn't stop thinking. His mind was on overdrive. He could barely keep himself from going downstairs and checking to see if his search had turned up any results. "C'mon Grayson. Get to sleep. Bruce will kill you if he sees bags under your eyes." He glanced at the clock. Midnight. He groaned.

He tapped his fingers against the mattress at rapid speed. He muttered to himself. The strangest thoughts flitted through his head. Chicken whizzies. Zatanna. Wally. Tacostada. The Rogues. Garfield. His and Wally's online shipping war of Megan and Connor vs. Megan and Wally from several months ago. His high score on Flappy Bird. He looked at the clock. 2 a.m. "Sleep, Grayson." He muttered.

He heard Bruce come in. He had gone on patrol by himself that night. "Shit." He muttered. He turned off his phone and tugged his quilt up on top of him. Sure enough, a moment later Bruce poked his head into his room. "Dick." Bruce hissed. He didn't move. He knew that Bruce smiled, and then he shut the door. Dick looked at the clock. 4 a.m. "Sleep, Grayson." He muttered.

He kept checking the clock. 4:15 was met with a groan. 4:30 with a murmer of, "Sleep, Grayson." 5:00 with a curse. 5:30 with a whimper. And finally, at 5:45, he fell asleep. And 15 minutes later, Alfie came to wake him.


	2. A Stolen Ring

Day 2: A Stolen Ring

"Wallace Rudolph West!" He yelled as he zetaed into the Cave. "Dude, why the full name?" Wally whined, zipping over to him. "Where is it?" He demanded. "What?" The speedster asked. "You know what I'm talking about." He said, grabbing the cookie out of Kid Flash's hand.

"Sheesh! Okay! It's just a stupid ring!" Wally replied, holding his hands up as if in surrender. He made as if to grab something from his pocket, but then remembered that he was wearing his spandex. "Oh shit." The speedster muttered. "What?" Dick asked in alarm.

"Um, I thought I had put it in my pocket, but since I didn't have a pocket when I took it..." "Oh fuck no! You did not lose my mother's wedding ring!" He yelled, grabbing Wally by the collar of his shirt. "Um..." "Fuck you!"

Just then, a message bleeped on Robin's glove. "You are so fucking lucky, West." Robin said, letting Wally go and hitting his glove. An alert appeared. "Your Rogues found my mom's ring. And you are getting it back. Solo." Robin said, shoving his friend forward. "Thank the Lord." Wally muttered as he punched in coordinates for the Zeta tube. "I heard that!" "Shit."


	3. Spider

Spider

"Holy shit! Oh my god!" A shriek sounded through the Mountain. "Megan?" Dick yelled in response, looking up from the letter he was writing to Zatanna. He ran through the halls, following the sound of the screaming.

He expected to find Megan, cowering in front of some kind of beast. Instead, he found Artemis in the kitchen, cowering before a... um... was that a spider? "Artemis? Is that a spider?" He snickered. "Don't laugh! It's not funny!" She yelled, climbing onto the counter.

"Sheesh." He said, grabbing a birdarang from his belt and crouching down. He squashed the spider and made a big show of wiping spider guts off of the weapon. "Ugh." Artemis shivered. Dick stood up and grinned at her.

"That... was hilarious." He declared. "Shut up!" She yelled at him. "Aren't we touchy?" He laughed. She groaned.

"_No one_ hears of this." "Awwwww! Not even Wally." "Don't make me hurt you." "Fine! Sheesh."


	4. Dysopnoea

Dysopnoea (Shortness of Breath)

He'd done more taxing things than this without even a second of heavy breathing. He'd raced over roofs and crossed telephone wires like tightropes, chased the Joker, run after the Batmobile after it accidentally left him behind. So why was chasing Two-Face making him pant like a dog?

He wasn't the worst criminal Robin had ever faced. He didn't even make the top five on his list. But even with the Team by his side he was nervous. Out of breath. Scared.

"Go on ahead! I think something's up with Robin!" He heard KF call to the others. "DG, are you alright?" Wally asked, approaching him where he stood, slightly bent over and breathing heavily. There wasn't enough air in the world.

"I'm fine. A bit out of breath is all." He somehow managed to tell the worried speedster. "Rob, you're never out of breath. What's wrong?" "Nothing." He barked. "I'm totally fine. Feeling the aster." Robin snarled. "You don't sound like you're feeling the aster." Wally said, raising an orange-red eyebrow.

"Dude, I'm just out of breath. It happens to some of us." Robin told the ginger speedster. "Alright. But if anything-" "I'm fine, Wally. I'm completely fine." He said, though his breath still hitched every time he sucked in air.

"Okay. Come on, we'll lose the others." Wally bent over slightly and Robin jumped on his back. "Thanks KF." Robin said. "No problem Rob." Wally replied, and they zoomed off into the night to try and find the man who murdered Dick Grayson's parents.


	5. Tachycardia

Tachycardia (An Unusually Fast Heartbeat)

Robin's heart pounded as Batman gave the Team his signature Bat-glare, the hardcore one that made criminals wet their pants and go crying for momma. He was mostly used to it by now, and had even given some Bat-glares of his own, but it still kind of freaked him out.

He knew how the Team was feeling. The first time Batman had shown him the glare, he had wanted to curl in on himself or beg for forgiveness or melt through the floor. However, if the Team did feel like that, they weren't showing it. In fact, Miss M, whom he had figured would be most susceptible to the Bat-glare, was stony-faced and showed no sign of fear.

"It was supposed to be a _simple _recon mission, observe and report. You will each be receiving a written evaluation detailing your _many _mistakes." Robin's heart sped up even more. He couldn't help but feel that it was all his fault. Kaldur and Wally looked worried, but Miss M and Superboy didn't seem that scared.

"In the meantime," Batman continued. _Oh crap, _Robin thought, his heart rate increasing even more. If it beat any faster, he was pretty sure it beat itself out of Robin's ribcage. He bit his lip, waiting for some horrible punishment to befall hi. And his teammates.

"Good job." Robin stared. "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. It's how you adjust to the unforeseen, that determines success. And it's how you choose who leads, that determines character." Robin couldn't help but grin.


	6. Firefly

Firefly

A five year old Dick Grayson smiled up at the fireflies hovering around the campfire. "Light bugs!" He laughed. "Yeah Dickie. Light bugs." His mother whispered to him. He laughed and reached up and tried to grab one. "The light bugs don't like me." He said, right before one settled onto his nose. "Sure they do sweetie." His mom laughed. "Yeah." He said, laughing wildy and trying to grab more fireflies out of the air.

"Robin?" His mother asked.. "Robin?" "Who's Robin? I'm Dickie." He murmured to his mother. "What?" "I'm Dick Grayson." He muttered. "Oh my god." His mother said. And then he realized that it wasn't his mother speaking to him. It was Zatanna.

"Holy crap!" He yelled as he bolted upright. "Did I tell you-?" He asked his girlfriend. She nodded. "Dick Grayson?" She whispered. "How'd you guess?" He murmured, holding his head in his hands. "So Batman is Bruce Wayne?" The magician asked quietly. "Yeah. And I totally blew our cover." He told her. "I am so dead."

"Um... what were you dreaming about?" Zatanna asked, trying to distract him. "My mom and a firefly." He told her quietly. "My mom is gone too." Zatanna said quietly. "How did- oh yeah. You know me now. Um, I'm sorry. About, you know..." "Yeah."

He sighed and picked his head up out of his hands. "Come on. There are some fireflies outside that I wanted to show you. They're gorgeous." Zatanna said, standing and pulling Robin up with her.

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AN: I know that I wasn't supposed to include romance, but I don't think this is extremely romantic, just a little bit.


	7. Doppelganger

Doppelgänger

"Hey guys!" "Hey guys!" "What?" "What?" Robin turned around to find an exact mirror of himself grinning in a very Robin-like fashion. "Holy crap!" "Holy crud!" Robin grinned back at his doppelganger, because now he knew with certainty that it was M'gann. The alien absolutely refused to swear.

"Guys! We've got an intruder! And it's me!" He yelled, pretending to still be freaked out. "Guys! We've got an intruder! And it's me!" M'gann yelled from behind him. But then M'gann came flying into the central command room.

"Robin? What do you mean-" She froze in midair when she saw the false Robin. "Miss M! It's me!" He shouted at the exact same time as the other Robin. The two turned to each other. "How did- never mind!" They exclaimed in unison.

"Robin, who's the intruder?" Connor yelled. "It's- it's Robin." Miss M replied in confusion. "Robin?" Superboy asked, and then saw the identical Boy Wonders standing near the zeta tubes. "I'm going to go see if I can find Kaldur." Connor said, backing away slowly from the duplicate superheroes.

"So if you're not Miss M, than who are you?" Robin and Robin turned to each other. Then they both reached for the other's mask. They couldn't get them off, but the real Robin had noticed that the fake Robin's mask was not perfectly un-see-through, and he caught the faintest view of bright green eyes beneath his doppelganger's mask.

"Wally!" He yelled, jumping at the speedster. "Aw man. You figured it out!" Wally complained. "You dyed your hair black just to freak me out and impersonate me for Halloween?" Robin asked. "Totally worth it!" The speedster yelled, and then ran. "You little-" Robin ran after him. They were both laughing.


	8. Riddle

Riddle

"Come, now, little sidekicks. I've got a riddle for you!" The Riddler laughed maniacally. 'Team, move out.' Kaldur said through the mind link. 'No, wait. Let me figure out his riddle. You guys can follow the sound of his voice and I'll keep him distracted.' Robin said, then stepped out of the shadows.

"Riddler, you know I'll figure it out. Just give up!" Robin called out. "Oh, come on, humor me, Boy Wonder!" The Riddler called out.

"Now, ever heard of Jean Grey? Of the X-Men?" The Riddler asked Robin. "Yeah. She's a cool story. What about her?" Robin asked. "Well, imagine she had a son. Named, oh, I don't know, Richard. Now, that child would be called...?" The acrobat stared up at the place where he knew the Riddler stood. He should tell the Team where the criminal was. But... if he was interpreting this correctly...

"Richard, Grey's son. Richard Grayson." Robin said. 'Rob? What does this madman want with y- Richard Grayson?' The speedster asked the bird through the mental link. 'I don't know, KF. Whatever it is, it's not good.'

"Right! And if I had happened to slip, unnoticed, into his room last night, and taken this fancy box," He held up a box that Dick knew contained all of his parents' belongings (the ones he had been allowed to have, anyway), "What do you think he'd do?"

"Bastard!" Robin shouted, and shot his grappling hook into the rafters. He swung at the Riddler and attacked. He kicked and punched and threw birdarangs. His vision turned red and he couldn't stop, wouldn't stop, not until he heard the Riddler collapse on the ground at his feet.

"Rob!" Wally shouted as the bird panted and kicked the unconscious felon on the ground for good measure. "What?" Robin seethed. The black-clad speedster simply pointed a thumb behind him, over the catwalk's railing. Robin glanced over and swore. When Robin had attacked him, the Riddler had dropped the box over the side. The box had broken apart on impact.

Robin would've been okay with that. The box hadn't been his parents', Bruce had given it to him, and he no doubt had hundreds like it. What worried Robin was that his extra stash of birdarangs and one of his Robin uniforms had been hidden at the bottom of the previously-locked box.

"Robin? What-" "You're Dick Grayson? Seriously? Of all the people you could've been? And you let me go on thinking you were just some rich kid weirdo?" Artemis shrieked, interrupting M'gann. "Calm down Arty-" "No! I will not calm down!" An arrow whizzed through the air, and a boxing glove exploded out of it at the last moment and struck Robin in the stomach.

Robin laughed and then doubled over, clutching his stomach. And then he stood up straight suddenly. "Oh shit. Batman's going to kill me."


	9. Teenager

Teenager

Richard Grayson groaned as Bruce told him that they were hosting a business party. "But Bruce-" "No. Stop. You are attending. That is final." Dick groaned again. "But I want to go out with the Team that night." He knew he was whining, but he couldn't help it. He hated going to Bruce's stuffy parties, and he was fifteen for Christ's sake! He could make his own decisions.

"That's too bad. Now, let's go. Time for school." Bruce drove his adoptive son to school. During that drive Richard refused to say a word and when they got to Gotham Academy he slammed the car door without saying goodbye.

"What's going on with him Alfred? He's been acting so... so..." "Like an adolescent, sir?" The butler asked, sounding amused. "Yes!" Bruce said, collapsing into his chair. "Bruce, he's going to act like this. He's _fifteen_. And frankly, this is mild behaviour. You should've seen yourself at fifteen." Alfred said, continuing to dust the expensive vases on display in the hallway. "I guess." Bruce sighed.

"I'm so mad at him!" Dick yelled at Barbra and Artemis. "Sheesh Dick, he's just being your dad." Barbra told him. "Yeah, be grateful you have a dad who cares enough to make you go to these stupid parties." Artemis said, leaning back against the wall as she spoke. "I guess." Dick sighed.

When Dick got home, he turned to Bruce and said, "I'm sorry. I was just being a teenager. I'll go to your party." Just as Bruce turned to him and said, "I'm sorry. You were just being a teenager. You don't have to go to my party."

Both pairs of eyes widened at the other's statement, but Dick was the first to react. "Thanks Bruce! See you tomorrow!" He yelled and laughed his infamous insane cackle, then ran to the Batcave to get his uniform and zeta to the Cave before Bruce could yell, "Stop!" "Adolescents will be adolescents." Alfred said, gently patting Bruce's back. "Now come along. You must prepare for your party.


	10. Matchstick

Matchstick

"Dammit!" Robin yelled as he broke yet another match. "Robin, it's fine. I can do it." M'gann said gently. "No! I've defeated the Joker, I've survived becoming Batman's protégé, I can light a goddamn match!" Dick yelled at the alien. "Alright. But I think lighting the candles might be a bit more efficient." She said. "I can do it!" He yelled, then cursed and threw away another matchstick.

"Robin! We need some light in here! Get the candles going!" Zatanna yelled. There had been a power outage across Providence, and the Cave had been affected, so no one could leave, and none of the lights worked. Everyone else had already lit candles in most of the Cave, and Robin had been letting M'gann do most of their assigned rooms (watching carefully to make sure the Martian wasn't severely affected by the flames), but Robin had taken up the living room, and everyone had gathered there to watch television. And Robin, apparently, had forgotten how to light a match.

''Robin, please just-" "Ha! I got it!" Robin shouted, holding up a barely-flickering yet still on fire match. "Woohoo! Go Robin!" Wally shouted, and both he and Artemis started clapping sarcastically. "Shut up!" Robin yelled. And then the match went out.

"Just take it!" He groaned, shoving the matchbox towards M'gann. "Sorry, Robin." She said, but took the matchbox and began lighting candles. He cllapsed on the couch next to Wally and Artemis, who had already begun making fun of him. He held his head in his hands. This was going to be a long night.


End file.
